The Man in the Golden Suit
by Saint Arkham
Summary: How Naruto became obsessed with gold. How a simple orphan rose and became the 'Man in the Golden Suit', the Master Manipulator, and the King of Cons. How he lost it all. NOT AU Probably SaiNaru SLASH
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don not own the show or manga "Naruto" in any way shape or form.

AN: This will probably be slash, but that won't happen for a while because I have to build Naruto's character first. This is not AU but there will be small changes, mainly that Naruto discovers the Kyuubi very early in life and that Naruto takes place thousands of years after the apocalypse, and civilization has been slowly building itself up again since then.

The Man in the Golden Suit

For as long as he could remember, Uzumaki Naruto had feared October 31st, for on that day, the village's ignorance of his existence turns into a raging hatred, culminating at sunset when large mobs form of drunken villagers who want to avenge their loved ones who were lost to the Kyuubi. A noble enough cause turned evil by the fact that the only way they could do as such was to try to hurt and kill young Naruto, the unfortunate container of the beast. Luckily for him, he was always kept inside on those days, being watched by the Sandaime himself. Still, listening to the mobs of people on the street trying to find him and kill him was frightening enough to the small child. Listening to them call for 'justice to be served' and for 'retribution' caused the poor jinchuuriki to think that he had done something wrong, some heinous crime that he was unaware of. The Sandaime's refusal to tell him the reason for the village's hatred of him and determination to change the subject whenever it came up only served to cement these thoughts into Naruto's head.

So it came to be that on Uzumaki Naruto's fourth birthday, he ran away from Sarutobi when he wasn't looking and went outside thinking that they would 'enact retribution on him' and leave, and they could all get on with their lives. Never did he consider the fact that this retribution would be deadly…

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'Where am I?' Naruto thought hazily. 'I went outside and then…

FLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACK

"Hey! I'm over here!" Naruto yelled to the crowd of people. They all turned and upon seeing him, they bolted toward him like wild animals as Naruto began to regret his decision. 30 minutes later, the ANBU decided that Naruto had suffered enough 'justice' so they scattered the mob and one of the more kind hearted of them brought him to a hospital. Throughout this time, Naruto was having an interesting conversation with a certain yokai…

'Where am I? No like wet….' he thought before trying to fall back 'asleep'.

'**Come here child, let me see you.' **A voice boomed throughout the… sewer? Naruto wasn't sure. **'Come here, inside this cage.' **Being a naïve four year old, Naruto did as asked.

When Naruto saw the giant fox inside the cage with him, he asked 'Who are you? Are you Inari? Or a monster? I don't like monsters they're scary.'

'**No, don't worry, I am no scary monster, I am merely **_**the Kyuubi**_**.'**

'Ahh! What are you doing here? Please don't squash me!!!' Naruto cried.

'**Ugh… stop crying…. If you stop crying I won't squish you. I just can't handle crying people, unless by handle you mean devour… right your only four. Devour means to eat, which I'm not planning on doing to you.'**

'Then why am I here? Did you eated me? I thought you died.' Then the beast laughed.

**'I am not dead I am sealed inside you kit.' '**Why did you call me kit? My name is Uzumaki Naruto! And what do you mean sealed? There's no way you'd fit into me!'

**'The Yondaime sealed me into you at your birth, which put simply means the tattoo on your stomach has a whole world inside it with the sole purpose of containing me. It runs off of your charka but converts mine into your body for your use. As to your other question, I call you kit because that is what you call a baby fox which is fitting because you are technically my heir.'**

'Whaddya mean heir? I thought that meant son or daughter, and I'm not a fox, and how come you didn't tell me any of this before I almost died?'

'**The seal was too stable for me to break out even that small amount it would require for me to talk to you. When your life was in danger it weakened slightly to heal you, allowing me to speak to you. Now that it's happened once, we can speak other times too, not just when you're here. All you have to do is think at me when you're out side here to do it… I'm sorry if that sounds strange but you'll see what I mean. Also, by heir I meant that when I am fully converted into your chakra, you would officially be the new Kyuubi, although you would be a hanyou weaker than the Ichibi. In time, you could grow stronger and gain nine tails, but as you would be a hanyou this would only make you as strong as the five-tailed Gobi. By this I mean that demons get a new tail every time they get stronger, arrive at the next level so to speak. Depending on what type of demon you are, there is a limit to your strength. There are one-tailed foxes and six-tailed cats, all manner of demons down in Makai, the demon world. The Nine-Tails are the strongest of each type of demon, and I am their leader, at least I was until 'The Cataclysm'. The Ichibi, Nibi, Sanbi, Yonbi, Gobi, Rokkui, Siechi, Hachi, and me the Kyuubi were kicked out of Makai and our clans decimated… and with me permanently sealed, you are the last of the Nine-Tailed foxes. Also, while my charka is constantly being converted into your charka, your charka is being converted into demonic charka. This means that while you have more charka, you will be pitiful at the human ninja arts, so don't bother going to the Academy. You will still need to protect yourself, so I suppose I can teach you my various abilities. Since hanyou blood is like a kekkai genkai, you even have my permission to teach your clan if you ever start or join one.'**

Naruto didn't understand a word that the Kyuubi said until '**don't bother going to the Academy'**.

'What? But I need to join the Academy to become a ninja to become Hokage! No one will accept me otherwise!'

**'To become Hokage you need to be liked, and everyone here hates you. Everyone **_**here**_** hates you. Join another village, they'll probably accept you, or even a small town. Hell, become a hermit and live deep in the mountains, I don't care as long as you leave here soon! These people will only try again, and if you die, not only do I die as well, but the entire legacy of the Nine Tail clan dies with you!!! Every single fox, from the wisest elder to the smallest kit will have lived and died in vain if you die! '**

Naruto was shocked by the emotion behind that last statement and yelped, causing the fox to calm down a bit.

'What would you be teaching me?' He asked, remembering the fox's earlier statement. Maybe he would learn cool justsus or learn how to cause tsunamis and ravage mountains…

FLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACK

'Of course, it's going to be forever before I can do any of that cool stuff!' Naruto thought vehemently. For the next five years or so, Kyuubi was focused on teaching him how to act and think in ways befitting the heir to a demon lord.

'I'm not even allowed to say 'Believe It!' anymore, or wear orange, or go to academy, or even stay in the village or anything!'

**'Believe it.' The fox said sarcastically. **They were able to talk now since that was what they had focused on the whole time they were in Naruto's head. "How long was I sleeping?" Naruto wondered out loud.

"Three days Naruto." The Sandaime said walking into the room. "Why did you walk out there?"

"I thought that they would punish me and then they would leave and then everyone would accept me. Of course, if you had ever told me about the Kyuubi, this could have never happened."

"How…? I'm sorry. You deserved to know, no child, no… nobody period should have to go through what you have. Is there any way to make it up to you?"

"Yes. Everyone hates me so there's no point in trying for Hokage. Since I won't be a ninja, I won't be able to defend myself from the villagers. I want to leave, live a city where I'm not known as the 'Kyuubi brat."

"I suppose… it's for the best. You have to come back here eventually though, you're like a grandson to me, if you just left forever, it would break my heart." He said wearily.

"I can't come back here unless I learn how to defend myself first. The villagers are too strong. But, I can't come back here for good ever. They just hate me so much, all of them…."

"… alright. Please, let me get you something as a going away present, then we can get some ramen. Then I can have some of my men escort you to Tanzaku Gai, it's a city not too far from here. You'll be sent to an orphanage and with any luck adopted by loving parents. Come, let's go now, Nodoka-san was only waiting for you to awaken to release you." Demegawa Nodoka was Naruto's personal nurse. She was there at his birth, and knew of his father the Yondaime, knew of the tragic death of Uzumaki Kushina, and above all knew he was no demon. She was the only nurse that could be trusted to not hurt Naruto in some way, from purposeful misdiagnosis, to refusing treatment, to flat out poison. She was the only nurse/ med-nin allowed near Naruto in the hospital, although emergencies wee an exception.

"Hello Naruto-kun! How's my favorite patient?" " I'm better now Nodoka-san. I'm leaving this village for Tanzaku Gai to get adopted by people who don't hate me."

"What? Sandaime-sama is this true?" "I'm afraid so Nodoka-san, it is too dangerous here for him."

"I can't say that I didn't see this coming. I'll be very sorry to see you go Naruto-kun."

"Well let's go Naruto-kun, Nodoka-san. We still have to get Naruto-kun a gift," Sarutobi chuckled.

They were looking around town when Naruto caught a glare in his eye. He shielded his eyes and saw it was the sun reflecting off the extremely shiny outside of

'**The Halcyon Emporium: ****Catering to All Your Gold-Related Needs Since 461**'.

"Let's go there!" Naruto said. "Okay…. I guess you can get something there," the Sandaime said while sweat dropping. When they went inside, they were blinded, there was gold everywhere! But one thing stuck out above everything else. There was a book bound in gold sitting on the counter. Naruto knew he had to have it.

"Excuse me sir, how much for this book?" The man was about to tell Naruto to leave in a very nasty way when he saw the Sandaime glare at him.

"Uh… it's free. It' s written in a lost language, so it's of no use to anyone, only for eccentric collectors."

"I'll take it! Oji-san will pay for it." He said as he walked away with the book.

"Naruto-kun, do you have anything you want to pick up from the orphanage?"

"No… all that's there are my clothes, which Kyuubi says I have to get rid of anyways 'cause they're too orange." The Sandaime just froze. 'The Kyuubi speaks to him…?'

"Naruto, when did the Kyuubi start speaking to you, and what does he tell you?"

"He started speaking to me when I went to sleep for three days after the people attacked me. He tells me about demons and how since I'm technically the only fox left I'm the head of the Nine-Tails clan. Is that bad?" Naruto asked. When he was older he would look back at that and think about how stupid it was to admit talking to the Kyuubi to the Hokage who was sworn to protect Konoha from all threats. Thankfully, the Sandaime dropped the issue, pondering this new development.

They were all ready to go. Naruto would be leaving with Inu, Neko, and Tanebi (Kakashi, Yuugao, and Itachi [this is before the massacre]) escorting him to Tanzaku Gai. Instead of taking him to an orphanage, they left him at the gates at Naruto's request, which had done so at the Kyuubi's request. The Kyuubi realized the mistake his container/heir had made confessing to the Sandaime and wanted no way for Sarutobi to track him/them. He wandered the city until he found an abandoned house and went inside. He took out the book and looked at the title.

**'Kit, I can read that.' **'What How?' Naruto asked surprised.

**'I've been around a very, very long time. If you want, I can translate it for you, it's in an old language called 'English'. I'll just make it so that you see it as 'Japanese' the old name for 'Kagenese' the language we are currently speaking.'**

'Alright! Come on let's do it! Something this shiny has to be good!'

The Kyuubi then sweat dropped before doing as asked. Naruto looked down at the cover. It said:

The Man in the Golden Suit

**The Autobiography of Moist van Lipwig:**

**The Master Manipulator**

**The King of Cons**

**The Richest Man to Ever Live**

Reading those words awoke something within Naruto. All his life he had wanted to live comfortably, to be accepted. Gold would provide for this. He always held a fascination for brilliant objects, things that would blind a man from the sun's glare. Gold would provide for this. All at once, just from seeing the title of the brilliantly bound book, he had become obsessed with gold.

He had had no goal, no purpose to live for, and now he does. He has gold to live for. He would make gold, become the richest man in the elemental countries, and he knew, deep down, that this book would help him.  
Upon opening the book he was surprised. It _was_ an autobiography in that Mr. Van Lipwig had wrote it, but it was more of a how-to book. How to swindle, how to lie, to cheat, to steal, to forge, how to walk into a bank with a piece of paper and a nice suit and walk out with millions with little effort. It said how to become the richest man in the world, how to become 'The Man in the Golden Suit'. But most important of all, it stated how to get started, which was by retrieving van Lipwig's lost fortune. The only problem was that the map was out dated. 'Not to worry,' Naruto thought as he drifted off to sleep. 'I'm sure Kyuubi knows where it is…'

Naruto woke up a minute later inside the cage again. **'Now your first lesson shall begin. You must learn how to talk and walk gracefully and effectively…'**

'Wait a second. Do you know where Mr. Van Lipwig's treasure is?'

**'No all I know from the map is that it's on an island. Now if you don't shut up and listen to your etiquette lesson I'll eat you consequences be damned! Now, first of all, I want you to conjure up some books for us.'**

'What do you mean? Am I a wizard? Do I have magic powers? Can I shoot lightning from a wand and stuff?'

**'No you can't! This is your mind so you have absolute control here. I'm going to show you pictures of these books and then you'll conjure them up. While you're at it, make this place more comfortable than a sewer. Maybe a forest or something…'**

After Naruto did that he looked at the books and saw that they were blank. 'Uh… I sort of forgot to imagine words…. Wait, how am I supposed to know what they look like on the inside anyway?'

**'…Good point. If you give me more freedom then I'll be able to conjure them up for you. All you have to do is rip a part of the seal off the cage.'**

'Got it!' he said before ripping the entire thing off. They were flung to opposite sides of the cage and flames and lightning appeared from nowhere while the whole place shook.

**'You idiot! I said part of it not all of it! There's no time! Leave now!'**

Naruto woke up and was in pain. There were massive cramps in his stomach, and they were quickly spreading all over his body.

**'Naruto! Make a ram symbol and say Kage Bunshin!' **'Kage Bunshin!' he screamed, and then all was silent.


	2. Execution Day

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

The Man in the Golden Suit

When Naruto woke up, he was shocked. There was a clone of him right next to him, only with red highlights in his hair. He crawled over to the sleeping Bunshin and poked it right on the nose. It bolted right up and snapped at Naruto missing his hand by centimeters. He would have done quite a bit of damage too, considering the large fangs in his mouth.

"Ahh! Who are you?" Naruto squeaked from the other side of the room, having made it there in record time.

"**I'm the Kyuubi. I had you create a shadow clone that my consciousness has now been pushed into when you ripped the seal like an idiot. It seems all my chakra is still inside you, so I'm helpless due to your stupidity. Actually though, this is good. One of the main parts of being a fox is the art of deception. I will teach you along with the book since we need to get food somehow, because I think I might need to eat too. Don't worry, we'll still be keeping up the other lessons. In fact, I'll be spending every minute of every day teaching you, you'll be learning deception and lying to get money, etiquette at meal times, and every other time we'll spend drilling knowledge into your head until you could debate any topic with any scholar and come out the victor. Actually, since I've been kicked out of your head and have no chakra to work with, we won't be able to even think about training you to fight for **_**years.**_** Consider this your first lesson: don't be an idiot!!!"**

Naruto just stared in shock. This was like, all the hard work to become a jounin level ninja, without even becoming a ninja. Many times over the years he would regret ripping the entire seal off…

Later…

**"Okay Naruto, the book explains it very well, I'm sure you can do it, after all, ****I'm**** your teacher."**

"But what if I…"

" **But nothing! Just do it!" **and he shoved Naruto out onto the street. He immediately began looking for someone who looked greedy, someone who wouldn't mind ripping off a child… 'Ah, there's one'. A small, hunched man was making his way down the street, and every once in a while he would strike with his knife, fast as a snake, at someone's wallet/purse and snatch up what fell out without missing a step, just keeping his eyes forward looking down the street the whole time, he was obviously a thief. A perfect target according to the book:

'**You can never fool an honest man' is completely wrong. Nonetheless, it is always better to 'fool' a dishonest man because he is less willing to bring the matter to the city guards' attention. An honest man will prattle and whine about his lost items, and tattle to the police in a completely unsportsman like fashion. Your fellow thief however, will see this as one great game just as you do, and immediately use your ruse on another dishonest man.**

Naruto went up to the man and said

"Please sir, I need money to get to Amegakure. My aunt is deathly ill and needs someone to look after her."

"Beat it runt I don't give out handouts!" he snarled as he started to creep away. Then, Naruto latched onto him and said

"Please sir, I have a diamond I got from her with me. I'll be willing to give it to you for thirty ryu, just enough to get there! Please!" he looked distraught now, if only he could get some tears out he'd be sold. Then,

"Please I have it right here just look!" he said as tears trailed down his face. The face of the thief lit up instantly, seeing what he believed to be a diamond in the hands of a naïve child.

"Settle down, here's forty ryu since I'm so generous. Now off you go." 'That diamonds worth more than 300 ryu! I'll be rich!'

So Naruto walked off with forty ryu and the thief walked off with what was really a five ryu piece of glass, which he wouldn't find out until the next day where he had it appraised at a jeweler.

"**Very good Naruto, I think you have some talent in this."**

"Yeah I'm great believe it!"

"**Remember how I told you to never say that? You don't get breakfast tomorrow."**

"What? That's not fair! That's not fair…."

Nine Years Later…

"And so, on this day, the eighth of October of the year 527, Uzumaki Naruto has been brought up with charges of treason… 'It's funny how your life flashes before your eyes in times like this, I remember my first theft, conning that thief with the glass diamond…' and so you have been sentenced by the ruling council of Konohagakure no Sato, to be hung by the neck until you die."

A loping, disfigured hunchback of a man came up to Naruto and started tying the noose 'round his neck. "I hope this ithn't too tight thir," he said with a lisp. "I'm joking of courthe, the tighter it is the quicker it ith on you. Any latht requesth?"

"Would you mind cutting this rope and letting me escape?

"Thorry thir, but ruleth are ruleth, you are to hang. Are there any latht wordth?"

"I… uh…" This was it, after a life of cunningness and wit, of daring escapes and thefts, this was it, he was finally going to die.

"Pleathe thir, hurry up."

"I'm trying Igor."

"How did you gueth my name? Wait! There'th a methenger from he Hokage!"

Naruto's heart soared. There was Oji-san, saving him from an inescapable death!

"Lord Hokage says to get on with it, it's well after dawn." Naruto's heart sank again, before he brought up his head and said,

"In that case, I condemn my soul to any gods who find it."

"Finally! Goodbye Thir Uthumaki."

Click went the lever.

Two Months Ago…

After years of training, searching, lying, threatening, and stealing, this was it. The location of Moist van Lipwig's treasure was in Wave country. It became difficult because after three years, all of Kyuubi's chakra had been converted into human chakra (it went much faster than it would have because Kyuubi was out of his body). This caused Kyuubi to be pulled back into the seal, which was recreated. This time however, Naruto only ripped half the seal, allowing Kyuubi out of the cage. They used his mind as an arena, with Naruto giving Kyuubi enormous reserves of chakra to spar with. As this was all happening, Naruto's chakra was being converted into demonic fox chakra. This caused Naruto's muscles to think that all of the training he was doing in his mind was real, causing him to grow stronger in his mind and in real life.

He would do all this as he slept, leaving the days open to the high-risk thefts that he loved. He would pull them all off in his unique way. Just put on some glasses, a change of clothes, a fancy accent, a proud stride and the proud, firm handshake of someone more important than you, and he was the Daimyo's personal treasurer taking stock of all the nation's wealth. If he was caught, a rough shawl, an infectious cough, a painful, lurching walk, and the shaking, weak hand shake of an old man with painful arthritis, and he was a simple beggar on the street who saw 'that imposter run towards the wall'. He was a master of disguise, and needed very few things for his disguise. Most of the work was in the handshake, the tone of voice, and in the general attitude of the person he currently was.

Using his skills, he persuaded and cajoled his way to Wave country. He did it all very discreetly though, he had stolen many millions of ryu over the years, and many people wanted the location of his stache, or just wanted to take him in for the bounty. He was so infamous, only the fact that he had never been seen using a jutsu kept him from being an A rank nuke-nin. This didn't mean he was weak though. While he couldn't use human techniques, he had mastered most of the Kyuubi's demonic abilities, such as healing, strength, speed, elemental manipulation, hypnotism, and 'The Aura'. 'The Aura' was like killing intent, but more tangible. It was what kept the Konoha nins from effectively fighting the Kyuubi all those years ago. Truth was that the Ichibi was only as string as a high jounin, and the Sanbi a Hokage. It was through use of 'The Aura' and their various individual abilities (Ichibi-sand manipulation Nibi-raise dead Gobi-Illusions Kyuubi-Hypnotism and full elemental manipulation) that they had achieved such god-like status.

At his current level, Naruto could single handedly fight a low jounin and win, but he had only achieved the four-tail state so far, so he kept trying. A high or even middle rank jounin though would kill him… like the two fighting in front of him. One was a mist- no an _ex _mist nin and one was a leaf nin. There were also three leaf gennin about his age fighting the mist nin's water clone as well as what appeared to be a hunter nin waiting up in the tree. 'The leaf nin appears to be guarding an old man from the clone… Just some ninja on an escort mission, nothing that effects me.' Nonetheless, he stayed to watch anyway. This was what passed for entertainment in his eyes.

Some interesting stuff happened, the leaf jounin was trapped in a water prison, then the two black haired gennin broke him out and the fight resumed. Just as the leaf jounin (who Naruto finally recognized as Sharingan no Kakashi) was about to strike the newly identified Momoichi Zabuza down, the hunter nin killed him and took the body away, right before Kakashi passed out.

'I feel bad about leaving three gennin out here by themselves guarding two people. I should help them. If I happen to remove them of some of their possessions while doing so well…'

"Hello! Do any of you nee assistance? It appears your dad has passed out." The one looking like an Uchiha (probably Uchiha Sasuke, Itatchi would be taller) scowled and said

"We are ninja and this man is our squad leader. Of course though, we would be glad to accept any help you could offer." Naruto smirked at this, though it was quickly replaced by a full Cheshire cat grin.

"I suppose I could help carry him into town… accept I don't know where it is. Would you happen to live there old man?"

"Yes he does he's the bridge builder Tazuna and we're here to guard him while he builds his bridge," said the pink haired one.

"Idiot. What if this man is another nuke-nin sent to kill Tazuna? You just told him everything," the last gennin said. He looked eerily like the Uchiha although he had a certain… quality the Uchiha lacked. The emotionless way in which he said everything was interesting too.

"Luckily for you I'm not a ninja, I don't know a single jutsu. Well, come on let's get going." he said, trying to drown out the Kyuubi chanting **'…Naruto likes him, Naruto likes him, Naruto likes him, Naruto likes…'**

Naruto was unaware of one important fact however. While he could not be identified by picture because he wasn't in the Bingo Book, his name had become pretty reviled in Konoha, especially by those who knew about Kyuubi. If his name were to become known to Kakashi, it would all be over…

AN: The last part was mostly filler to get moving into the Wave Arc, and don't stop reading because you think Naruto's dead, this is only the beginning…

Also, reviews motivate me to type faster. Just to let you know.


	3. Angels

The Man in the Golden Suit

"Wake up, Naruto," was the first thing he heard. "We have business to conduct." He opened his eyes to see the traitorous Sandaime leaning over him. Maybe he was dead too…

"Come Naruto. Let's talk about… angels. I know too interesting facts about them." Naruto barely heard him though and his neck ached horribly, was this normal in Heaven? Maybe he went to Hell?

"You are alive Naruto, at least at the present time, so don't pretend otherwise. Of course, you were still hung. A very precise science, hanging, Of course Mr. Igor is a master. The slippage and thickness of the rope, whether the knot is placed _here_ rather than _there_, the relationship between weight and distance… oh, I'm sure the man could write a book. You were hanged to within a half-inch of your life, as I understand. Only an expert standing right next to you could tell otherwise, and in this case the expert was Mr. Igor. Of course, not that there is many experts anyway, only a med-nin of Lady Tsunade's caliber would detect life. Oh yes, Uzumaki Naruto is dead, the entire council saw him die. So, it is appropriate we talk of Angels. The thing about them is that say, when a man fouls up his life, where his whole existence is a bleak and tangled mess, he may be visited by an angel, who will give him the choice to go back and make things _right_. Think of me as an angel. I'm offering a job, a future. Uzumaki Naruto is dead, but you're not. You have a future, although it may be short depending on your actions. Of course, I realize that work for wages may be a foreign concept or you, but luckily on your part, Ninja's earn by the mission, not by wages."

At this Naruto's head snapped up. "W-w-wait, wouldn't you rather have me as a postmaster, or banker, or tax collector (1)?"

"You were always supposed to come back, be a Ninja, take over my position, and take up your clan name. You see, your father was-"

"I know my father was the Yondaime it's really obvious, I have the same hair, eyes, and I used to have the same personality as him, not to mention that someone as _self less_ and _giving_ as him wouldn't sacrifice up anyone's child but his own. Anyone who doesn't realize that by now is… well I guess they're Konoha."  
"An apt statement you make. Yet, knowing that the wealth and grandeur of the Namikaze clan awaited you, why did you never return?" For the first time in the meeting his emotionless mask faltered and he showed years of worrying about Naruto, as well as worrying about the Kyuubi's influence on him.

"I was worried you would have me executed for associating with the Nine-Tails. Besides, I told you I would return when I could defend myself. To me that meant being High Jounin to Anbu level because I remember that night quite vividly and it wasn't just civilians in the crowd…"

"Naruto, you had become too worthy, too infamous, too powerful to live. Now that you are dead, you shall join one of our gennin squads and become a ninja. If you wish not to however, the door is right there. You can leave, and you shall never see us again. But- I shall tell you something first. The second thing about angels is that you only get one."

Naruto walked over to the door and slowly pushed it open. He took off his shoe and dropped it out the door. It fell through the floor and after many seconds, landed in what sounded like water.

"I have no choice, do I? I accept. Who shall I be joining?"

"You shall join team seven. Since they already know your identity, this shall keep them quiet of your nature. Sai is an Anbu and shall protect you and Sasuke, the two most important clan heirs, from attack, while Sakura, a med-nin, shall keep you two healed. You shall be announced as Namikaze heir in one week. Also, as part of the Clan Restoration Act of 329, you need to sire ten children in five years. I… am sorry for forcing this all on you at once, the council has decided this all to be."

"If the council knows I'm alive, then what was the point of my fake death?'

"_That_ council thinks your dead. The true council, me Homura and Danzo made this decision."

"Very well. Where is the Namikaze estate?"

"It is located by the Uchiha estate. You may remember Neko, she escorted you to Tanzaku Gai… although since she followed your request over my orders she has been demoted and has only recently re-attained the rank of Anbu. Let this be a lesson to you Naruto about what happens to my most loyal men when they disobey me slightly." What was left unsaid was 'Just think about what I would do if my newest recruit full on abandoned me.'

"Hai Hokage-sama. Let us leave Neko-san." And so they left. The whole time there was a terse silence between the two, oddly enough just like the kind he experienced at Wave…

FLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACK

They were walking on in an eerie silence to the bridge maker's house, watching the fog trying to tell if there were any more ninja's hidden out there. At, least, Naruto, Sai, Sasuke, and Tazuna were. Sakura was doing her best to consecutively annoy Naruto and Tazuna with questions and date Sasuke. Only the former attempts were successful.

"So Tazuna-san, what's so important about this bridge?" Naruto asked.

"A man named Gato controls all ships leading to and from the island. Being the pretentious little slime he is, he abuses this power leaving Wave naught but an empty husk, devoid of all resources land or money. This bridge shall liberate us from his control."

"Hey Tazuna-san, why didn't you say it that way to us? You sound much more important this way."

"Your squad leader would have ordered you back if I wasn't completely truthful, so I… embellished it a bit this time. Anyway, we're here." He said as they arrived at his house.

They went inside and had Kakashi got a bed then settled down for supper.

'Time to work my magic,' Naruto thought. "Hey, who wants to play a game?"

Instantly Sai said, "What kind of game?"

"Let's play the shell game, do you know how to play?"

"Yeah, you put a pea under three shells, then guess which one it's under." Sakura piped in. 'Ah, there we go. The weakest link of the group has revealed itself. Now to get all their money to her…'

"Correct. Who wants to play? Although, I have no shells, we can use these cards instead."

"I'll play" Sakura and Sasuke said surprisingly. Naruto took out the cards, bent them, put the pea under one and started off slowly. Sakura guessed it easily. He then said:

"Let's raise the stakes a bit. Give me a ryu, I'll put one on the table too." They both grew suspicious at this, just as he planned. 'He's trying to con us out of our money, well he doesn't know about my Sharingan (2), the joke's on him.'

"All right" he said then put a ryu on the table. As soon as he did, Naruto started again. Sasuke had trouble keeping up even with the Sharingan. He did however, and was able to win.

"You tried to con us didn't you? Tried to hustle us? Guess you didn't know I had the Sharingan, huh?"

'Sasuke, you fool. You just revealed more precious information to someone who still may be a nuke-nin…' Sai thought, although he didn't let his thoughts show on his face.

"Heh heh, you caught me. Can't blame a guy for trying though. I still wanna play though. How about this, you win, you get money, you lose, and your lovely girlfriend gets money."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Sasuke yelled, deafening Naruto and crushing Sakura.

"You idiot, he's just trying to rile you up so you're easier to fool. Then he's gonna use this game to move all your money to gullible, easily tricked Sakura who he'll get it from later, relying on your foolish pride to keep you from quitting!" Sai practically screamed, tired from their foolishness.

Everyone stared in shock. This was the most emotional they'd ever seen him be! Naruto was more shocked than the rest. This… person just came up and ruined his scam, with hardly any effort! '**Smart **_**and**_** cute, I can see why your so enamored with him…**'

This ill placed statement plus his first ever failure to steal made Naruto excuse himself quickly and bolt up to his room. Had he been in a more… stable presence of mind he would have told everyone down there that he was just having fun, he wasn't trying to scam them, and it would probably work. He was very persuasive after all. But, the deed was done. This was just one of the mistakes he would make before the mission was over that would expose him…(4)

FLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACKFLASHBACK

Naruto was jarred out of his thoughts by the sight of the Namikaze… no… _his_ compound. It was… enormous. Opulent. Spectacular. It was beautiful in every sense of the word, except for the fact that it was devoid of all life. Minato Namikaze had ironically been the first in his family to be a ninja, the first non-clan ninja to be Hokage. He had no clan to speak of, although it was expected that him and Kushina would soon start one. 'Such a large place, a symbol of the many hopes and dreams, _and lives_, that were destroyed by the Kyuubi in his apocalyptic rampage,' Naruto thought. 'I could have lived here, had many brothers and sisters, had a loving family, been the son of a hero, grown up, _and become a killer_.' Indeed, that's what Naruto saw all shinobi as, Team Seven included. 'They may not have killed anyone yet, but they will, and soon. Innocence is a virtue to a civilian, a fatal detriment to a ninja.'

Naruto, if you haven't guessed by now, was extremely averse to killing. He had swindled, lied, cheated, forged, betrayed, conned, and stolen, but he never hurt anyone. He had never taken a life, never willingly hurt someone, he didn't even own any weapons. Now, some may think, why would he do this, become a ninja willingly, if it would make him do things he would never forget, never live down? He knew what he was seen as by Konoha, indeed, by all the hidden villages. Ninja were seen as living tools to a certain degree, but his kind, the jinchuuriki, were a weapon, an expendable resource, nothing more than a kunai that kills more than a regular one.

'He'll kill a bunch of our enemies, then if he ever gets overwhelmed, then at least he'll take a bunch out with him. Of course, if he takes to long to kick the bucket, becomes useless, well, nobody can fault us for killing him, he was after all, just a demon.'

The sad thing was, once, while in Suna, he had seen a small boy, much like himself, getting jeered at and threatened. When one person got too close, sand appeared out of the ground and… devoured him. The boy's father, the Kazekage, was a few feet away from Naruto, talking to some jounin or another, and that had been word for word exactly what he had said.

Of course, Naruto _could_ kill someone, very easily too. He was a five-tailed fox for gods sake!(3) Nonetheless, he had learned out of a desire to protect himself, not hurt others for the sake of a village that had… forsaken him, to put it lightly. Still, he had no choice. He couldn't run to any of the other villages either, because while Konoha… mistreated him, the other villages would flat out exploit him. At least here, they can't flaunt his 'condition' because that would mean admitting he was Uzumaki Naruto, and that would just be… hell, to put it mildly, for him and the village.

On the bright side, maybe the Yondaime left the secrets to Hiraishin in the compound and he could learn and just leave, go so far away no one would ever find him…

…except eventually they would. While hope is the greatest treasure to have, it never worked out in your favor. 'What the heck, at least I get to see Sai again…'

AN:

1: these are all jobs that Moist von Lipwig, the character Naruto is based off of in this story, is forced to have.

2: since Kakashi was being helped to train Sakura and Sasuke by Sai (who is a ROOT Anbu) he had more time to help Sasuke with his Sharingan

3: During the Wave mission, which I will finally finish next chapter, Naruto gained a new tail

4: Sorry only half of this chapter loaded at first, it didn't save right on my computer or something so I had to retype it.


	4. AN 1

Just telling you all I got a beta. And by 'you all' I mean the like three people who actually read my story.


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